Fun at the Crosswalk

Waiting at a crosswalk can seem like forever. Endless streams of cars pass by while you stand there, looking out anxiously at the red "stop" hand and pushing that little button on the streetpole that you're sure isn't even hooked up to anything. Minutes can pass by, and there you are, just standing there, staring out into the crossfire of car traffic. It can be a bit of a bore. But it doesn't have to be.

Students of digital media design at HAWK University in Hildesheim, Germany, have designed this concept for a game pedestrians can play while they wait for the walk sign. It's a pole-mounted touchscreen featuring the classic video game Pong, and pedestrians on each side of the street can actually play against each other.

The video below shows how the streetside game could work. The dialogue is in German, but you'll get the picture.

It's not actually a real installation, as these making-of photos show, but it's a pretty cool idea for adding a little fun into the urban street infrastructure.